The Properties of Metals

An assortment of metal objects lies spread out on the kitchen table in front of Pietro. Closing his eyes, he gingerly stretches out his hand. Word of the boy’s psychokinetic abilities has travelled far beyond the borders of the small Italian village; they say he is able to bend more than just spoons. When a university professor starts paying Pietro regular visits, the experiments are a welcome distraction – for despite the idyllic beauty of the landscape, life here is hard: unsettled debts linger in the air, along with unhealed wounds in the family’s history. A portrait of a world in turmoil; of a place and time in which one boy’s gift seems a beacon of hope, carrying promises of a better life. (Berlinale)